The Catchett House Mystery
by doubleL123
Summary: Here is a story i wrote with my cousin 5 years ago. Her username is bookwormillau I hope you like it is a little bit out there but then again, we were 8. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1, LOE: The Will is Found

**Loe:**

**Chapter One: A Will is found**

Do you know how it feels on a hot sticky day to just be stuck, inside the house with no ice cream or AC? Try it with a slightly annoying twin sister, Lee and a bunch of other kids who you don't particularly like that much! That's exactly how I feel. Only worse. I just feel like I am going to burst from boredom! And, since I have nothing to do but watch the other kids be bored, every little thing is driving me crazy! I grit my teeth in annoyance and glare over to my twin, Lee. "Can you please do something other than annoy the life out of me? Anything but that! "Lee stopped humming and stared at me. "Gee, sorry Loe. I didn't know it was bothering you that much. But I'm just not sure what we could do. I like to hum when I think." She apologized. That's Lee for you, always thinking. Me, I just jump right in. Why bother to think? And thinking about every little thing, too. Lee even thinks about our names! Like what they really are, what they mean. Lee and Loe. Those aren't our real names. We don't know what they are. When we showed up, (we were about two years old), Laurie asked us what our names were, and all she could make out was 'Lee' and 'Loe'. So it stuck.

Let me explain, Laurie Catchett is the head of _The Catchett House_ _for Children_. It's an orphanage. She's super nice compared to all of those crummy orphanage caseworkers you see in movies. Sometimes I wonder how she manages to pass the requirements, being so nice. Isn't it like, an unwritten law that you have to be mean to work in an orphanage? She runs it basically all by herself, with the help of a few teachers who come and teach us on school days, a cook, and a housekeeper who comes in once a week to clean up after us in her own house. Then there's also a gardener, and that's about it. The whole thing is

in her house. She takes in whatever kids come, including us when we showed up at her door step. She tries to find out where we come from, and adopts us to nice houses. So far we haven't been adopted, but I don't mind. I like the orphanage and Laurie- just not on days like today.

Just then Laurie walked into the room. "You know, if you guys are really bored, you could at least make yourselves useful by getting the mail." I jumped up off my bed. "Okay." I agreed. It was better than nothing. Besides, that was my job for the week. We get assigned jobs for the week, because with so much work, everybody has to help out. Lee followed me outside. The mailbox is all the way at the end of the yard where we play baseball, right next to the sign that says, _'Catchett House for Children'_. Lee reached inside the mailbox and pulled out a bundle of letters. "Junk, junk, advertisement, junk." I sighed. Then I pulled out a letter from the bottom of the pile. "Hey, what's that?" Lee asked curiously, as I pull out the letter from the bottom of the pile .It was tied with a ribbon and in old fashioned script it said, _'To the towns' people of_ _River Field.'_ I was about to tear it open when Lee grabbed my arm and pulled it away. "You shouldn't be opening that, you know. I don't think Laurie would like you invading her privacy." I shrugged. "It says _towns' people_. That means us, too." Lee finally gave in and said, "Well, okay.", as she carefully untied the ribbon and read aloud:

"_You are cordially invited to the reading of Mr. and Mrs. Christopher and Marilyn Malloy's last will and testament, which, after 8 years has been recovered in a loose floorboard in the abandoned Malloy mansion. The reading of the will is scheduled at 9:00 A.M, Tuesday, July 3rd at City Hall. Please join us."_ When she finished reading, she gasped. "Ohmigosh!" she exclaimed. "Do you know what this means?"I did, but I pretended not to. "We won't be bored tomorrow?" Iasked curelessly. Lee shook her head, and her carrot colored hair intwo braids shook with it. "Don't you know who they are -err- were?There were the richest

people in town. Billionaires! God, I wonder whothey gave the money too..." her voice trailed off. I can't say I blame her. All that money! We've never really had money in our life before. Laurie, well, she takes very good care of us but she didn't have that much money. She gets paid a little money, I guess, from the town and a bit from charity, but that's about it. But to get all those billions of dollars! And all at one time! Lucky! Well, whoever gets it is...

Mr. and Mrs. Christopher and Marilyn Malloy died actually eight years ago, right before we showed up at the orphanage, but that doesn't mean we didn't know who they were. They own about every business district in town, like The Malloy Mall and Malloy Grocery. They've been trying to find a will ever since they died in a car crash, but a will was never found. And, neither were their two kids, a set of girl twins, just like us. They searched the whole house for 'em after they died but, no luck. They just disappeared. Not even the bodies were found. Most people considered them dead too. Actually, the house right next door to us is the Malloy Mansion.

Our neighborhood is really old, and practically all the houses are big and run down, including the _Catchett House_. They're all fixed up now, and rich people don't live in them anymore. Nobody lives in the Malloy Mansion, though, and it wasn't fixed up either. The yard is a total mess, with weeds and litter is everywhere. The windows are cracked and dirty and even though I haven't been in it, it is probably just dusty and shabby inside. The door's locked tight though, so nobody knows what it was really like in there. Some of the kids thought that it was haunted by the spirits of the twins. They were only two when they died. If they actually did die, I mean. Bobby, our sworn enemy for life, (even though

we've only known him 2 months) told us that. He said they cried all day long, calling "MOMMY! DADDY!" Through the hallways in search for their parents that had left them so long ago. The twins were in the car crash, but while the ambulance was loading up Christopher and Marilyn Malloy they wandered off. The rescue workers didn't know they were there, and of course the Malloy's couldn't tell them they were there, being dead, so they were left behind at the wreck. By the time the workers found out they were there, the two girls had disappeared, never to be seen again.

I didn't really believe Bobby. He probably made that up. It was true about the crash and the disappearing twins, but seriously, ghosts? Give me break. It's not like anybody could prove it, not being allowed to go in the house and all. But sometimes I did hear noises coming from the mansion, creepy noises and stuff.

I stopped thinking. Lee may like to think, but it gives me headache." I wonder if Laurie's gonna let us attend. I sure hope so. I mean, it's not every day something like this happens!" I said to Lee excitedly. We headed inside, both of us clutching the letter.

"GUESS WHAT! GUESS WHAT?" I panted, out of breath from running. All the kids looked up at us, happy for some excitement. Even Laurie paid attention. "What?" she asked. "Wait, don't tell me, I'll guess. Was it..." Lee interrupted her. "THE MALLOY'S WILL WAS FOUND AND WE ARE INVITED TO THE READING OF IT!" She yelled happily. Murmurs and gasps filled the crowd. Everyone reacted differently. Laurie looked strange, almost as if she was scared. I didn't think about it much. Who really cared with news like this? Some kids flooded us with questions; others gasped and started whispering to their friends. Others didn't care at all. But one thing is for sure, if they had known much it would have changed the life of everyone, they would have cared a whole lot more.


	2. Chapter 2, LEE: The Reading of the Will

**Lee:**

**Chapter Two: The Reading of the Will**

After we heard the news about the will, my head flooded with questions. What if it was left to the dead twins? Or his dead wife? What if, after all that, it wasn't legally signed? What if it wasn't really a will? What if...My thoughts were interrupted by Laurie's voice, "Lee? Hurry up! You still need to get dressed and ready for _The Reading of the Will_!" She scolded. My mind snapped back to attention. "Oh...sorry." I said absentmindedly. I quickly rushed to the room where all the girls my age slept. Loe was waiting for me. Her hair was curled and her long bangs had been clipped to the side with a cute, pink butterfly clip. "This dress is so itchy! And hot!" Loe complained, scratching her shoulder, and then adjusting the neckline. She was wearing a light pink dress with spaghetti straps and a sash around the waist. On the neckline it had ruffles. It had been passed on from one of the older girls. She did not look happy at all.

Laurie only bought new clothes for the older girls, and they were always exactly the same, 1 dress, 2 pairs of pajamas, and 4 pairs of play clothes, a set for the winter and fall and a set for the summer and spring. When the older girls out-grew that, she gave it to us. Good thing we're not the youngest kids here or the clothes would have been passed down twice before it reached us. Well, however ugly Loe thought the dress was, I thought it was pretty. Except, of course it clashed with our red hair. I slipped it on just in time to hear Laurie call again, "Girls! Come down! The bus is here!"

Whenever we go somewhere we go on a school bus, because we have about 20 or so kids at the orphanage. We hurried outside and jumped inside the bus. "Somebody looks pretty." The bus driver said grinning at Loe and I. Loe scowled.

I guess she had been hoping nobody would notice the dress. "Thanks." I said sincerely. "Sorry about her." I apologized for Loe. "She's not so into dresses." The bus driver chuckled. "Quite the tomboy, eh?" she laughed, her eyes twinkling. I nodded, and then we rushed to get seats in the back. The back is where everybody wants to sit, because it's so bumpy, almost like a roller coaster. Actually, I'm not so into roller coasters but I do like sitting by the back door because you can wave to the people who are driving behind you. I usually keep count of how many people wave back, and try to break my record. "Everybody buckled up?" Laurie called from her usual seat in the front. "YES!" Everybody screamed back. I covered my ears. Loe, right next to me, was one of the louder screamers.

Bobby was sitting across from us. He leaned forward and poked me in the shoulder. "You know how I told you the Malloy Mansion is haunted?" he asked. I wasn't sure about that but I answered, "Yeah..." Loe protested. "Are you kidding me?" Nobody believes that junk you and Dan make up. That rumor started two months ago, when you came along anyway." Dan, Bobby's best friend, laughed evilly. "Look kid," he said. I felt a little annoyed at him calling us a kid, considering we were only a year younger than him. "Look, kid, it's true, everybody knows it is. We're protecting you. All I'm saying is, last night we heard something coming from the Malloy's. And we saw something, too. So you better watch out when you go near it. Got it?" "Yeah, well, I heard the noises too. It was just the wind." I fibbed. Out of me and Loe, I'm the one who comes up with the most logical explanations. But I couldn't help but wonder...

After a long ride, (well, it was maybe about 15 minutes but it felt longer because all the boys were yelling and throwing spitballs, (especially Bobby, I won't get into the details about who he is, but let's just say he's not exactly our best friend) some of the younger girls were singing, the older girls were gossiping

and Loe kept poking me and asking excitedly, "Who do you think it is that got it? Huh? Huh?" And I kept asking her "Do you think they are telling the truth? Is it haunted? Huh? Huh?" Then we finally arrived.

The room was big, and more than half the people of River Field were there, seated in folding chairs. We took our seats in the front, because most of us were short. I saw that there was a small table with photographs of Christopher and Marilyn Malloy. Behind that there was a podium, where a tall man wearing a suit and tie stood. He cleared his throat. Laurie nudged us. "Be good." she whispered.

The man began. "Hello, and welcome to the reading of the will. We appreciate you all coming here today. Why are we here today? The answer is because Christopher and Marilyn Malloy were a big part of our community and now we have found Mr. Malloy's will. The will was found when real estate agent went into the house, wanting to sell it. After eight entire years of being abandoned, it is entirely legal for the town to sell it. He tripped on a loose floorboard upon entering, and under it was Christopher Malloy's will and some pictures of his daughters."

He held them up. They showed two small girls, not older than two. They had red hair with brown freckles, blue eyes and light skin.

They were adorable! I just kept going back to the thought that they looked kind of like us but I doubt it could even be us, why would we be in an orphanage if we were the Malloy twins? Ha! I tried not to laugh at myself when I thought that. I knew it was just wishful thinking, but it wasn't like I had anything better to do. The speech was so boring! The will reading was two hours long and felt like forever. I was hot and muggy in there because everyone was stuffed together (not any better than the _Catchett House_) It seemed like all the word's coming out of the man's mouth were just Blah Blah Blah. I really was not paying any attention. I

thought he would go more into the story of the Malloy's death, but he didn't. He went into the biography of Christopher and Marilyn and then simply said about their death, "The two were killed, along with their twin daughters in a horrible car crash on that fateful night."

I glanced at Laurie. I gave her my best puppy eyed look, one that said, "Please can we leave now? Please, please?" I don't think she noticed though. For some reason, she looked unusually pale. My thoughts drifted back to the twins. Where they really ghosts? Who were they? Where were they? Were they all alone, whoever they are? Were they scared and lonely? Were they separated? Were they- well, dead? Suddenly I heard they say who all the money went too. "The money goes to both of his twin daughters, Lea and Lola Malloy, who are supposed to be assigned to a guardian, a close friend named Mr. William Holmes until they are 18 years old. He will soon be notified. The money is estimated to be about 20 billion dollars. Since Lea and Lola Malloy have been missing for the past eight years, we will be conducting a search for the children. All orphans and adopted children who are about 10 years old and female must be checked. They could be anywhere, but are expected to be dead. The FBI remains on the case. Whoever finds the twins shall be rewarded one thousand dollars in cash." the man finished. Boy! Were those girls lucky, getting 10 billion dollars each! I wish I was one of those girls! But I wasn't. I couldn't be. It was impossible. Why did I even keep thinking about it? My parents were dead and unknown, that was that. They weren't rich billionaires! I guess maybe sitting in that room to long has given me the idea. I could see

Loe had the idea too. Loe was still pouting about here frilly dress, but I knew that on the inside she was amazed on how much money these

Malloy people had. And maybe she was thinking that these Malloy people were really us.

I really wanted to know what Loe was thinking right now but for some reason I had a feeling she was coming up with a plan to find the missing twins (who she probably thought were us) and get that reward money!


	3. Chapter 3, LOE: New Plans

Loe:

Chapter 3: New Plans

It was Wednesday afternoon the day after we went to the will reading. On any other Wednesday in summer, I would have been playing football outside, or beating the boys in arm wrestling, or maybe building a fort of some kind. But not today.

I had a great plan on how to find the missing twins (namely, us) but I was not sure about it. We would not be allowed to escape the

Catchett House, (well, okay, not really escape, because escaping is more like running away because you are cruelly mistreated, and besides

Bobby and Dan, I was pretty much being treated okay, so really it would be more like 'running away for a good purpose') which was what we needed to do in order to try to find them. Plus, Lee would definitely go with me. Or even let me go at all. Well, maybe if I asked Laurie about it she might actually support my plan.

Laurie was good about things like that. When I was little and I had to wear a dress to one of the older girl's birthday parties (not my idea, by the way, but the girl insisted that everybody had to wear a dress) I decided to run away. Well, Laurie was all nice about it, saying things like, "Oh, here, lemme help you pack. " and "I'm sorry you have to wear that stupid dress. I think it's ugly too. Don't tell anyone." and then she said, "I'll miss you." I think I'll miss her a lot, once we're gone. After that I ran away. It was only for about a day, though. And I pretty much just hid in the woods behind the orphanage. So it didn't really count. Especially because Laurie went over to me very few hours and checked up on me. She also brought me food. So no, that doesn't count, I think.

Well, if Laurie was on my side, I guess I could convince Lee to come with me. She pretty much does whatever I want, as long as I butter her up really good. She's one of those people who like everybody to be happy.

"Lee?" I asked. She was down below me on the bunk beds, as usual. She's afraid of heights. Among other things. I hung down from the edge of my bed down below. I saw an upside- down image of Lee's face. It was exactly like mine, because we're identical twins, but more importantly, it was a spitting image of the Malloy girls. Yep, with those big, blue, eyes with long lashes, the turned up nose, the pale complexion sprinkled with brown freckles, the crooked smile with a single dimple in the right cheek, and especially the wavy, long, reddish hair, there was no doubt about it. We were the Malloy twins. "What?" she asked, a bit annoyed to

have been interrupted from her drawing. I noticed it was a drawing that looked suspiciously like the Malloy twins. "Well, look, Lee. I think you've seen this coming since yesterday. I know that you know what I'm thinking. But I'll tell you anyway. I think we're the Malloy twins."

Lee pretended to be surprised. "No, you're kidding! You only have been mentioning it every other minute." she said over-dramatically.

"No, I'm not." I shot back. "I know you've been thinking it too. It all checks out. Lea and Lola?" Lee and Loe? Our names, being twins, our looks, being orphans. It all checks out. So here's what I'm thinking. We're running away to the Malloy Mansion, and we're going to prove it."

Lee stopped teasing and looked horrified. "I am not moving to someplace haunted. I won't." she declared flatly, crossing her arms. "You can't make me."

"Please, Lee, listen. That's who you are. You can't just run away from yourself." Now she was angry. "Loe, you listen. We're orphans. That's who we are. And you can't just run away from yourself!" She hesitated, then added, "You can't run away from you're twin, either."

I was desperate. "I have it all planned out. I've packed our things and mapped our route. We're not running far, just to the Malloy Mansion. I just know there'll be something to prove who we are."

Lee got a look on her face. I knew that face. Besides being exactly like my face, I mean. It was her 'logical' face. She used whenever she was going to think of some logical explanation and prove me wrong. "I'll call Laurie and ask." I said quickly, before she says something logical and ruin my plans. "See if she says no."

"LAURIE!" I called. Laurie hurried up the steps to the girl's room where I was doodling a plan to either a) to prove that we were the twins, or b) to find the twins.

"Loe! What's wrong? You haven't yelled like that since you set Lee's hair on fire!" she exclaimed. I giggled. I remembered that. I was only six. Then I got serious again. "Laurie, I'm really sorry but I'm running away. For real this time."

Laurie gasped. Then she said," It's because you had to were the dress, to the reading of the will, isn't it? Oh, Loe...I know you hate that dress, but-"

I cut in and told her my plan. At first she seemed worried, really worried, and then amused. Then she shook her head. "I know for a fact, that well, you aren't, kid. If you were one of those Malloy kids, I'd know for sure. Who wants money anyway? Who wants that William Holmes guy? Who wants the Malloy Mansion? Not my girls. I need you. " She grinned, and then stuck out her hand for our special handshake. Lee joined her hands. I reluctantly joined mine too. Then we did our secret handshake. I can't tell you what it is because- well, it's a secret. But just because we Laurie disproved my theory, I wasn't giving up.

"What about finding the twins then?" I countered. "I'm sorry, really I am, but you can't."

Lee got that annoying look on her face again. She was silent, but it was almost like she was saying, "Told ya so."

"Girls," Laurie said. "I hope you'll take this as good news-" she paused for a second. I raised my eyebrow. "Well, you and Lee are getting adopted." I could practically feel my eyes bugging out of my head when she told me. "ADOPTED?" I yelled, so surprised that I lost my grip on the top bunk and toppled down to the floor. I didn't mind the pain from the fall, but the pain from the news was unbearable. "No, No, No, No, NO!" I yelled.

"ADOPTED?" gasped Lee.

"ADOPTED!" Laurie replied.

We took a minute to get over the shock. Then Lee sniffled. "But-Laurie, I'll miss you." she sobbed. Laurie sighed. "I'll miss you, too, but hey- that's life, pal." she patted us on the back. I guess I knew we were gonna run away any way, but this news made it seem way more real.

I would miss her. I would miss the orphanage. I would miss playing baseball on Saturday mornings. I would miss her cheering for us and going on our team. I would miss doing stupid errands. I would miss helping the cook and the gardener and the maid. I would miss my teachers. I would miss my friends. I would miss my enemies (meaning

Bobby) I might even miss wearing that stupid dress. Lee was crying. Laurie was

crying. And, okay- fine, even I was crying. Laurie wrapped us up and squeezed us hard. I'm normally not a hugging type of person, and neither is Laurie (Lee is) but the hug made me feel better.

After we got over it, (sort of) we asked a million questions. Laurie just said comfortingly, "Just think. You'll have a family. A house. Parents. Maybe your own room. You'll go to real school. And I'll visit." That sort if comforted me, except for the 'real school' thing.

After that, Laurie told the rest of the kids. It must have been a real surprise to them since Laurie never really tried to adopt us twins out. Everybody else was there for a few months at the most. But us, we had been there for years. It was hard seeing all those kids go. By the time I made a new friend, they had to be adopted within a few weeks. Well, if I ever saw Bobby go, I wouldn't really care, but that's beside the point. I had always thought it was a little weird that we hadn't been adopted, but I had never cared, really.

Lee probably thought a lot about that, the thinker she is. When I was little, I

thought it was because we were Laurie's favorite. Then I began to catch on that it was maybe because nobody wanted us. We were just unwanted. Now, I'm not at all sure. Some of the kids tease us about it. Especially, you guessed it- Bobby and Dan.

It was such a surprise to be adopted so suddenly. I mean all those years with Laurie and then BAM! Gone in a blink. Out of all the kids, I and Lee had to be the closest to Laurie. We had to be, after eight entire years.

I wondered what their reaction would be. I found out soon enough. Some of the boys cheered. I knew they were just kidding, though. Or at least, they better be. Bobby asked, "Does that mean that I'll never have to see your ugly faces again?" From what he's said to me in the past, I took it as a compliment.

Some of the younger kids didn't understand, but those who did started crying. Asia was one of them. She is the cutest little girl I have ever met! She loves us, too. Actually, I think she loves Lee more, but what can I expect? She has the patience of an adult. Lee, not Asia.

Then some of the older kids said "Congratulations!" Ha! Congratulations! Yeah right! This was the worst thing that had ever happened to me and they were congratulating me? It was too much. Lee burst into tears and ran to our room. I followed her.


	4. Chapter 4, LEE: A Surprise

**Lee:**

**Chapter 4: A Surprise**

We had only one day left at the Catchett House. Only one. Then it would all

be behind us. Everything. Laurie, my friends, my enemies, our games, pretty much everything in our life. Gone. Just like that. Laurie barged into our room, flinging the door wide open. "Come on girls! It's your last dinner here! Enjoy it! You're our guests of honor!" Loe of course jumped right up and was happy again. She's like that. One second, she's sad, the next second, she happy. Especially when she hears about anything that involves food. Sometimes I wish I could be like that. I didn't want to seem like a party pooper on my last day, but I was being one and I knew it.

So I hopped up from the bed and said as enthusiastically as I could, "Yay!" We raced down stairs as fast as we could but stopped abruptly at the bottom of the stairs. The dining room was empty and dark. Just like I felt. All of a sudden the lights flickered on, my friends popped out from behind the furniture, and I heard one wonderful little word:

"SURPRISE!"

I almost had a heart attack. How could almost giving me a heart

attack on my last day be such a good surprise? Well, okay, it was good.

It was all decorated, compliments of the housekeeper, Mrs. Sutton. The younger

kids had made a big giant poster that said, 'Good Luck, Lee and Loe." It was very cute. I couldn't resist. Loe and I gave them a group hug. "I love you, Lee and Loe!" Asia (age 3) announced. We ate our favorite meal (pizza, of course!) cooked by Laurie and a few of the older girls (And one older boy, Kirby, who

insisted that he was just 'messing around') "Do you like it?" A girl called Becca asked eagerly. I sure did! It was the best pizza I'd ever tasted!

"Yum!" was all I could say between bites. Then we had a nice dish made by

the boys. (Surprising, huh?) I'm still not sure what it actually was.

"What is this, exactly?" I inquired politely. Bobby grinned. "Fried worms with a topping of beetles." He answered playfully.

Loe gasped. "Really? Awesome! Ohmigosh, this is my new favorite food! You have to give me the recipe!" she exclaimed and started shoveling the food into her mouth.

I slowly, very slowly stopped chewing and brought by napkin to my mouth and pretended to cough while I spat whatever it was out. I didn't eat after that. Dan saw what I was doing and laughed.

Hey, Lee, want some?" he asked, holding up a bit of whatever it was in front of my face.

I wrinkled my nose. "Not especially." I said, my voice dripping with disgust.

"THROW IT! THROW IT! THROW IT! THROW IT!"

The boys began the chant, then the little kids, and then some girls, until

everyone (including Laurie) joined in. So Dan tossed the so-called worms over to me. It seemed to be in slow motion as the worm thing flew through the air closer and closer and closer to me and it finally landed BAM! Smack dab on my nose! I looked crossed eyed at it. Loe laughed and took it off my nose. Then she stood on her chair and held it by two fingers in the air. "OH YEAH?" She said, facing off Bobby and Dan. "Nobody throws worms at my sister and gets away with it!" Then she leaned over and took the plate of worms and brought it down on Bobby's head! Laurie, instead of yelling like some other adults would, stood up on the middle of the table and yelled enthusiastically,

"FOOD FIGHT!"

Pizza soared through the air, whizzing past me right into Laurie's arm. She took a couple of big bites out of it then tossed the crust over to Becca, who squealed and sent it soaring over to her best friend Michelle who munched on the crust. Meanwhile Loe had got the remainder of the worm things and put one down Kirby's shirt, who wasn't paying attention because he was busy taking some of the chicken fingers and aiming for Tom's face. Loe had to stand on a chair to reach his back because frankly, we're pretty short for our age. Like, so short it's embarrassing. But yeah, whatever. Asia didn't know what it was all about because she was only three, (the youngest of all) but she grabbed the plate of fries and tossed them at Dan.

"Take dat, meanie!" she said, her mouth full of fries. He picked her up and sat her on top of the pasta so that she was covered with sauce. Then her little friend Carrie, who was five years old, sneaked up behind him as he was putting her in the sauce and grabbed the whole sauce container and put it on top of his head! His whole entire body was covered with sauce. It was hilarious!

I shouldn't have laughed, though, because next thing, I knew and, BAM! I was bombed with little balls of bread from the boys. They set them up on their spoons, aimed, then hit one end and it went flying! I calmly collected the bread balls and then plotted my revenge. Okay, so revenge isn't really my thing. It's more, well, Loe's department. But she couldn't save me, considering that she was getting attacked herself. I think actually, she was enjoying it. Michelle dumped a big container of punch over her head, soaking her with sticky, fruity juice. Loe just laughed and licked her lips. Then she took the lemon from the bowl of punch and sucked on it. Her lips are all puckered up.

Then I got a bad idea. A diabolical idea. A completely evilly awesome idea. (By the way, diabolical means devilish. What? I read the dictionary.) "Hey girls!" I said, beckoning all of the girls.

They drop their food and come over. "Huddle up." I said, my voice lowered to a whisper. "I have a plan. Against the boys. Are you all in?"

"Does this mean we're going to plan some kind of evil attack?" Loe asked, doubtfully. "Uh-huh."

"I'm in." she agreed, grinning.

"Me too!" chirped Asia.

That, of course, made Carrie volunteer immediately. "So am I." Then there was a girl aged eight, Violet. She's a new girl. I wasn't quite sure if I would like her much or not, but I decided it didn't matter because we were leaving soon anyway. She thought a minute. Then she said, "If it's okay with Laurie, I guess I'll do it."

Laurie joined in, like I knew she would. So long as nobody died, she said. So

then it was up to the last two. Michelle and Becca. Michelle, well, she wasn't much of a problem. She's 13, but she's still full of energy. She always jumping around and having fun. Also, sometimes she can be a little (or a lot) mean. So obviously, she said yes.

Michelle wasn't so easy. She was 15, so boys were a big thing to her. Sometimes

she was a barrel of fun, but then she got all mature and boring. She paused, and then said, "I think playing pranks is silly and childish. I'd rather do womanly things like cooking, or sewing.

Besides, if I play a prank on the boys, Tom won't want to date me!" her face turned bright red. "Oops." she muttered.

Carrie and Asia immediately started singing. "Tom and Becca sitting in a tree! K-I-S-something-something-G!

Violet pushed her glasses up on her nose and said shyly, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

The boys, who had been paying attention only too themselves, noticed what was going on and came over. "Becca and who?" Christopher, an 11-year-old, sneered.

Loe smiled. "We'll tell if you don't agree." she teased. Becca's face turned even redder. "That's blackmail!" she insisted, but finally gave in. The boys finally went back to they're food fight.

"Okay, what if...we add just a little bit of pepper to the punch we serve to the boys? Just to get even on how mean they've been. "I proposed. I couldn't wait. First we had to clean up. That wasn't a problem. Most of the food wasn't on the floor; it was on the table so we just ate it was we went. Or gave it to the housekeeper, Mrs. Sutton, to put away. Easy as pie! Piece of cake! The food that was on the floor, Kyle and Shawn (ages 4 and 6) at it all. It was sort of disgusting how boys eat, to tell you the truth. They just inhaled it. Like human vacuum cleaners.

"Cake time! "The Mrs. O 'Day, said, setting an enormous ice-cream cake on the table. Then Mr. Martin, the gardener, put a big bouquet of beautiful flowers he had grown himself as the centerpiece for the table. The cake was big and square, and across the cake, it said, 'Good Luck, Lee and Loe.' My favorite, ice cream. Especially in this heat. Mrs. O' Day makes the best cakes. She was in on the joke, thanks to Laurie's great thinking. She poured the good punch in our glasses, and then poured the pepper punch into the boys. The boys were such pigs that they drank the whole cups. The results- funny!

Bobby was first. His face wrinkled up, then his eyes watered, and he quietly, just like I had done with the worm- things, spit it back out into his cup. Us girls tried to hide our giggles. Asia and Carrie laughed right out loud, but the rest of us just quietly enjoyed our cake and punch like nothing had happened. Mrs. O' Day pretended to be offended. "Why, don't you like the punch? Made it myself."

"Love it." Bobby choked out. Tom was next, then Kirby, then Dan, then Kyle and Shawn. The reaction was all the same: coughing, watery eyes, making a face, spitting it out. Yet none of them said a word, just went on drinking. I guess they didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. I wouldn't have guessed that boys had ever even heard of feelings.

After the cake, we opened presents. Besides Mrs. Sutton's decorations, the little kid's poster, the cake from Mrs. O' Day, the workbooks from our teacher, and the flowers from Mr. Martin, we got a scrapbook from everyone (mainly from Laurie), with notes from all of them, and pictures of all the kids that had been in the Catchett House from the past 8 or so years. They must have been very busy writing notes after we had run upstairs.

I felt my eyes watering. Loe doesn't cry for any reasons- usually- but I wasn't sure if I was crying from happiness or sadness. Maybe both. Because, as good as the party was, there was a reason for it: being adopted.


	5. Chapter 5, LOE: The Worst Day

**Loe:**

**Chapter Five: The Worst Day**

It was the worst day for us to have been adopted. It was drizzling, slightly windy, and gray, but still as hot and humid and muggy as ever in Laurie's tiny car. I watched out the car window as raindrops drizzled down it. Finally I probably Laurie a question to break the ice. "Who's adopting us?" Laurie jumped from her seat in the front. Ever since the car ride to our new home started, neither of us had said a word. And being quiet wasn't like me at all. "It's an old man and woman. Normally, I would have let you meet the family who's adopting you beforehand, but the kind of children they were asking for fit your description perfectly, and there wasn't enough time, so I had to make an exception. I've met them, though, and they seemed very nice."

Lee looked up from her space next to me in the car, where she was huddled in the corner. "What do you mean, there wasn't enough time?" she asked. It was the first non-crying words she'd said in the past hour. We'd only been riding ten minutes, but all through packing and saying goodbye, she hadn't made a sound. Except for the occasional sob, that is. She just cried, hugged, and tried to smile. I was more the shaking hands type, trying to be cheerful type, when it came to saying goodbye.

Laurie looked away. "Oh. I- uh, Well the couple that's adopting you need someone to not only live with them, but to help them around the house. And we- we couldn't have them waiting."

"Oh." Lee said, and then nestled in the corner again. I was still a little curious.

"How come we're finally being adopted now? After eight entire years?" I asked, my voice demanding. Laurie was hesitant. I had never dared to ask her before, because I had always dreaded the thought of the answer being, 'Because nobody wants you' but now I had to know.

"Er...you guys are my uh, favorite and I couldn't bear to see you go? But this- older couple, erm...needed you?" It was a statement, not a question. But the way she said it made me wonder. Laurie had been acting strange ever since she had heard about the Malloy twins. I hadn't really noticed it until now. But it was more and more often that cool, confident, kind, fun-loving Laurie seemed to be turning into one of those typical evil orphanage workers you always hear about. And that was convincing me even more that I was one of the Malloy twins. But something- I can't say what-was wrong about this whole thing, and I intended to find out what it was. But obviously, Laurie wasn't going to help me.

Another awkward silence loomed. Laurie broke it when we pulled up into the driveway of a large old-fashioned mansion, just like the Catchett House had been. Except the Catchett House had been filled with happy memories and this place- just wasn't. It didn't seem like such a place an old couple would live in either, but then again, I'm not old. "Okay, kids, you ready for this?" Laurie asked, restored to her normal, sunshiny self.

Lee nodded. She wasn't crying, but her face was stained with tears. I tried to be happy, like Laurie. Whatever it was that was happening to make Laurie act all weird, I knew it wasn't Laurie's fault. She wasn't bad-was she? And she was trying to help by adopting us out.

I opened the car door and squeezed my way out. Lee followed me.

Laurie was already opening the trunk to get our bags. "Here" She grunted, passing my single suitcase over to me. I took it.

"Thanks." I returned. Lee took hers, too, and we began up the walk to the house There were flowers everywhere, reminding me of Mr. Martin. The reds and oranges and yellows made the whole mood lighten, at least to me. "Their pretty." I grinned. "Do you think the couple would let us help plant some?"

Laurie smiled. "Oh sure. That's just the kind of thing they need help with. Mrs. Lewis- that's the woman's name, but you may be able to call her Margaret, I don't know- loves to plant flowers but she's not healthy enough to plant anymore, so she insists that Mr. Lewis- or Eddie, if he lets you call him that- plant some, but his back is getting bad. I know you girls love to help out." She winked.

Lee brightened. She loved flowers as much as me. In fact, the flowers from Mr. Martin were gently placed in her suitcase, waiting for water. "I'd love that." she said, stopping to sniff one of the flowers on the lawn. Laurie took this time to remind us the rules of politeness to old people. They were:

-Always say please and thank you and all of those polite sayings. (Even if they probably can't hear you anyway.)

-Don't talk back or disagree and don't get agree if one of them can't hear you or doesn't understand. Also, always listen to the stories they tell about the olden days.

-Always appreciate everything they make or do for you or give you, including pink frilly dresses. Warning: Do not scream if she pinches your cheeks.

-Always ask them if you can help out and make sure you don't mess up. Or else they might get mad. And if they do, helpfully remind them that as bad as you were, it is against the law to spank kids these days.

-Don't make lots of noise or mess or fuss.

I made a mental note to remember them. I wanted to be off to a good start. To be part of a family was something that I'd never really experienced.

Maybe, even if we were Malloy twins, I would like this better. I didn't want to mess it up. (This is really, really, hard for me not to do because I sort of have a knack for messing things up. I sort of pride myself on being so good at it. You could call it a talent.)

Laurie rang the doorbell and we waited. And waited. And waited some more. Finally, this very, very old woman and this slightly older man came to the door. Mrs. and Mr. Lewis. "Hello." Mrs. Lewis greeted in a squeaky old lady voice. Somehow her voice sounded more- I don't know- sinister or something than an old lady's. "My, aren't you cute!" I prepared myself for the cheek pinch.

Ouch.

"Thank you." I muttered under my breath, looking to the floor. Cute? I was cute? At my age? You've got to being kidding.

"Thank you." Lee said. She's really shy.

"The shy one, eh?" Mrs. Lewis said, pinching Lee's cheeks again.

"Yes ma'am." Lee said, but it sounded funny because her cheeks were still being pinched.

Mr. Lewis finally talked. His voice sounded much younger than he actually was, but it was somewhat husky. "You must be Lee and Loe, if

I recall correctly?"

Before we could answer, Mrs. Lewis interrupted. "Odd names. We'll have them changed right away, now won't we, Eddie?" She looked admiringly up at Mr. Lewis, who was at least six inches taller than her. And much taller than me. Did I mention we're seriously short?

"Excuse me, Mrs. Lewis." Laurie spat out. "I'm quite sure Lee and Loe like their names just fine, thank you."

"YES, thank you." I said angrily. I couldn't hold in my anger. Who did this lady think she was, anyway? And the man wasn't any better.

"Well, Bertha and Agatha sound like suitable names to me." Mr. Lewis said. Ew. Even Laurie couldn't help but wrinkle her nose. Lee tried to hide her disgusted look, but I couldn't help it.

"I don't know if you heard me but our names are LEE and LOE!" I exploded in fury.

Mrs. Lewis just frowned critically. "I don't like cheeky little girls, Bertha. I should have picked out one with a better temper than you." she said.

Bertha? Why did I have to be Bertha? Why couldn't I at least be Agatha?

"Well, let's get you to work, now Bertha, Agatha. I don't like spoiled little girls." Mr. Lewis said.

Spoiled? We were spoiled? Us, of all people! Laurie seemed hesitant to let us go, but she had to. "Goodbye, girls." she said nervously, wrapping us in an awkward hug. She didn't seem to like Mr.

And Mrs. Lewis any more than we did. But if that was true, why would she let us go to them?


	6. Chapter 6, LEE: A person of Interest

Lee

Chapter 6: A Person of Interest

Although it seemed like Mr. and Mrs. Lewis couldn't get worse, they did, after

Laurie departed. As soon as she left we were set to work right away. I don't mind a little work, and I'm used to it, but this was too much!

Before we even unpacked, we had to help tidy up our room, which wouldn't have been too bad if it wasn't covered with dust and cobwebs and ick!-dead spiders. We swept, wiped, mopped, dusted and shined.

Then, once we did, we had to help Mr. Lewis move the furniture into the room and

up the stairs, who was surprisingly strong for his age, especially considering his bad back.

I leaned against the wall, exhausted. "Phew!" I gasped for air. "Glad we're done with that."

Loe, (or should I say Bertha) who had plopped herself down on one of the hard beds in the room nodded, and was about to say something until Mr. Lewis interrupted and grinned.

"Me too! Now you and the other one can get a start on the bathroom!" Neither Mrs. Lewis nor Mr. Lewis could tell us apart.

We groaned. What were we, Cinderella? Even she got better treatment then us! Plus, she had those idiot mice and birds to help her!

Here's a list of what we did that afternoon:

- clean and bring furniture to our room

-clean the bathroom (including toilets!)

-clean the fireplace

-take out the trash (outside in the rain)

-wash windows

-wash floors

-beat carpets

-help make dinner

And Mr. Lewis, after moving all that furniture, was tired and went to bed. Mrs. Lewis was sitting in her rocking chair, watching us like we were some kind of entertainment. So we were on our own.

Oh sure, we made it fun, by taking turns giving each other rides up the steps while the other brought them solemnly up. And using the toilet cleaning chemicals to concoct some kind of stink bomb in the bathroom. And dumping ash on each other's head when cleaning the fireplace. And splashing in puddles out in the rain. And singing it's a Hard Knock Life from Annie (our favorite movie ever) while we washed windows. And wearing socks and sliding across the floor to clean it.

And making shadow puppets behind the carpets. And even inventing some kind of recipe to eat for dinner. Turns out, pepper in the punch (tea and coffee, in this case), was a skill we would use throughout our whole life. They may be old and innocent, and I felt really bad about not telling them about the pepper that 'Bertha' put in the drink, but they deserved it.

Mrs. Lewis drank hers first. She sipped it with her pinkie up. But instead of spitting it out quietly, like Bobby had done, she chocked on it. She gagged. She coughed. Finally she spat it out. For a moment, her voice didn't sound like an old lady anymore. But she caught herself and began to sound old again.

Call 911! Emergency! I've been poisoned! I should have known Bertha and Agatha were some kind of juvenile delinquents or something!" Her whole body was shaking.

I gulped. What if I had killed her?

Loe was more calm, cool, and collected. She giggled. Bad move.

Mr. Lewis jumped up from his chair at amazing speed and was about to bring his hand across her face as a slap. But he caught himself and just yelled at both of us.

"This you young'uns idea of a joke? You could have killed her! Is that what you were trying to do?"

Loe nodded solemnly. She was trying not to giggle again. "Yes sir." she smart mouthed him.

He grabbed her wrist, then mine, and practically dragged us up the stairs.

Mrs. Lewis screamed up at us, "NO DINNER FOR YOU!" My stomach growled, but it was just as well. Our cooking isn't that good, anyway. But I hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast.

Mr. Lewis shoved us into our room and locked the door. We were helpless. "I'm hungryyyyy!" Loe moaned. She pounded on the door. "Let us out, you old hag!" She kicked it. Nobody responded. I stepped forward.

"Here, let me try a different approach." I said to her, then I called to Mr. And Mrs. Lewis, "I hate to do this, but if you don't let us out we're calling the cops. Starving poor, innocent, helpless little children is-"I was interrupted.

"POOR, INNOCENT, HELPLESS LITTLE CRIMINALS IS MORE LIKE IT! I'LL BE THE ONE CALLING THE COPS! YOU TRIED TO KILL ME! I CAN ARREST YOU FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER!" Mrs. Lewis screeched in her old witchy voice.

I went on, unfazed. "As I was saying, I'm pretty sure that's child abuse. Just to let you know, I have a cell phone. What's the number For Prevention to Cruelty to children again, Bertha?"

We didn't really have a cell phone, but Loe pretended to think. Then she said, "Oh, yeah! It's-." She was interrupted, this time by Mr. Lewis.

Mr. Lewis came in with a full course meal begging them not to call. When they finish their meal they fall asleep although it is only 7:00 pm. they are wiped out from all that work. Then I was awoken by a trail of footsteps in the corridor and I hear Mr. and Mrs. Lewis say they are going to tell their boss! I start to wake Loe up. I kick her. Nothing. I tap her. Nothing. I jump on her and she wakes up. I tell her everything. Then, Loe whispers so loudly. WE HAVE BEEN KIDDNAPED! At that very second I see Mrs. Lewis and Mr. Lewis with out of their old people disguises on! OMG! I was freaking out! But of course Loe was completely calm and thinking of a plan. I think I knew what she was thinking, we were going to jump out the window and run all the way back Laurie! Noooooooooo! I am scared out of my mind! Loe is so crazy! But I don't even know if that is what she is thinking. And at that moment I see the door knob turn while simultaneously loe is dragging me towards the 2nd floor window. As I the two of us hit the ground with a hard thump, I heard the Lewis's scream "NO! THE TWINS GOT AWAY!" At that moment I knew we were more than just Lee and Loe two girls from some old orphanage, we were Lea and Lola, the Malloy Twins.


End file.
